Classic - A McRoll in the REAL World Story
by Mari217
Summary: Sometimes the classics prove to be the coolest


_**Happy Birthday, Saaaaaammmyyy!**_ _ **I hope you enjoy your birthday story and the reference for REASONS. I'm happy to be posting on your actual birthday. May your day be as wonderful as you are. You are a continuous source of joy, support, friendship and laughter. Many happy, healthy returns of the day, Partner. xoxox**_

 _Author's notes at the end._

* * *

 **Classic**

When Catherine walked into Danny's living room, Grace was running through songs on her phone and making notes on a pad. Her pompoms were tossed on the sofa.

"Hi, Sweetie, what's going on?" Catherine bent to kiss her head as Danny came out of the kitchen. "Hey, Steve is right behind me."

"Pizza is on the way. Gabby will be here in about two hours, she just got called into a meeting. She said start eating and save her a pepperoni slice." Danny grinned at his daughter. "Did you tell Auntie Catherine why you've taken over the living room?"

"I need a good dance song from back in the day." Grace smiled and turned when Steve walked into the room. "Hi, Uncle Steve." She went to hug him. "I'm getting to choreograph a cheer for our competition!"

"That's great, Gracie!" He fist bumped his niece, and the two shared a smile. "Do you have a game plan?"

"I'm helping with the third graders and the theme is golden oldies."

Catherine grinned. "Grace needs an old song they can do a routine to."

"Like from the 90s..." Danny teased.

"No, _really_ old, like the 70s," Grace told him.

"Ouch." Danny cringed but his eyes crinkled with amusement.

"What? I didn't call you old, I … Oh. You guys were born in the 70s." Grace giggled sheepishly.

"According to that logic, we're all old," he pointed out.

"Oops. Sorry." She raised her shoulders in a shrug. "You're not old, you're … um," she fished for the term, " _Vintage_ , like Nonna says!"

"I prefer classic, like a great rock song," her father teased.

"And you're all really cool," she appeased with a little smirk.

"Especially me." Danny nodded with a smile. "Uncle Steve, I'm not too sure about."

" _What_? I am so much cooler than you," Steve busted right back.

"On what day?" Danny snorted.

"Every day of the week," Steve retorted.

"Just being from New Jersey makes me inherently cooler."

"That's ridiculous …"

"Uh oh, look what I started," Grace stage whispered to her aunt with a grin.

Catherine laughed. "C'mon, I'll help you find a song while they try to out cool each other." She took a seat on the floor, and the two began skimming through songs while Danny and Steve's discussion was interrupted by the doorbell. Danny went to answer, and Steve went to grab plates from the kitchen. Catherine's eyes flicked from one to the other, and she shook her head and smiled.

* * *

After they'd eaten, Grace and Catherine found a song that worked. Grace actually knew it well from listening to the CD with her dad.

"I love this CD! I know all the songs, but that one's my favorite." She jotted down some ideas for a routine and when Catherine started the music, Grace said, "Let's let it play all the way through."

Danny nodded appreciatively. "See, I'm so cool, my kid knows classic rock."

Before Steve was able to answer, Catherine stood, reaching for her niece's hand, and they began to dance around the living room to _Old Time Rock 'n' Roll._

Steve leaned against the love seat, arms crossed, eyes following Catherine and Grace as they laughed and danced.

When Grace said, "Show me some old dance moves," and started the song over, she reached for Steve.

"Gracie, I'm not the dancer here," he grinned, but instead of dancing with her uncle for more than a few beats, she dragged him to the middle of the room towards Catherine.

"You guys do a dance from back in the day."

After twirling Catherine around to a few bars of the song, Steve stepped back, and Grace grinned delightedly before moving in to dance with Catherine again.

When he backed up to stand beside Danny, his partner smirked. "She gets it from me."

"Are you kidding?" Steve snorted. "Gracie's a great dancer, that's definitely not from you."

"Please." Danny waved a hand. "Casey's Dance Club every Friday after work when I was in high school."

Steve shook his head with a smirk and focused on Grace and Catherine. They were laughing as Grace tried to mimic a combination of the twist and the footwork from a dance he vaguely recognized from his teens but couldn't recall ever knowing the name of.

Catherine's skin was slightly flushed, and her eyes were shining. She looked exceptionally beautiful and happy, and he stood totally still for a few seconds to watch her. She looked up, feeling his eyes, and gave him a brilliant smile and a little finger wave.

The spell was broken when Grace bounded over and grabbed Danny's hand for the last few bars of the song. Catherine came up to Steve, still grinning, and wrapped him in a hug as he smiled down at her. "Didn't expect a dance party," she said. Releasing him, she took a long drink from the bottle of water he was holding.

Not long afterwards, Gabby arrived, and Grace went out to meet her. When they walked into the living room, she was excitedly telling Gabby about planning a routine for the younger kids.

"Hi everyone." Gabby moved to give Danny a quick hello kiss. "Oh, great you saved me pepperoni."

Grace nodded. "It's right on the table, if you want to heat it up …"

Gabby reached for the box. "Cold is better, actually."

Danny shook his head. "See what I deal with? All of you, no one knows pizza …"

Catherine smirked as Grace sat next to her on the sofa. Steve was on her other side, his hand lightly resting on her knee. Glancing up at him, she reveled in the content look on his face. Evenings like this occurred often for them now, but she knew he never took them for granted, because they were something the Steve she'd met nearly twenty years ago never expected to have. She placed a hand over his and squeezed his fingers lightly as they exchanged a small smile.

The teasing expression he adopted when he leaned forward to catch their niece's eye and wink at Grace made Catherine almost inexplicably happy.

"Hey Gabby?" he asked.

"Yeah?" Gabby smiled. "You want another slice?" She moved to pass one over, but his head shake stopped her.

"No thanks. I was just wondering …"

"What?"

"Here it comes," Catherine stage whispered to Grace.

"We've established that I'm much cooler than Danny, but does Gracie knowing all the tracks on Seger's Greatest Hits make _her_ cooler than Danny …?"

Grace giggled, and Catherine laughed out loud at Danny's response.

The exact one Steve was expecting.

"No. No, no, no. First of all, we established nothing of the sort. You are not cooler, Steven. And Grace knows classic rock _because_ of me. Therefore, I am totally cooler …"

.

 _End. Thanks for reading._

* * *

 _ **Ilna & Sammy, as always you are spectacular in so many ways. Talent, friendship, and fun! Hugs and Love!**_

 _REAL McRollers, we love you all and thank you for your loyalty and support. We have so much wonderfullness in store for Steve & Catherine and we are so happy you're along for the ride. _

_If you are not on the REALMcRoll email list and would like to be, or you'd just like to say hi,_ _ **drop us an email**_ _at_ _ **realmcroll at yahoo dot com**_ _with "Add me, please!" in the subject line._

 _Looking for links to all the REAL World McRoll stories in one place? Check out our Tumblr page_ _ **mcrollintherealworld dot tumblr dot com.**_

In addition, one of our AWESOME REAL Worlders, katydid13, has created a community here on fanfiction dot net that brings all of the REAL World stories, and all of Mari, Sammy & Ilna's pre-universe stories in one place. You can find it at

 _ **community/McRoll-in-the-Real-World**_


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